Dancing With the Stars Reveals Elimination Twist on Dedication Night
Being eliminated from Dancing With the Stars would have hit close to home for any of the contestants.
After all, for the first time in the ABC show's history, the cast performed tributes to their loved ones—right in front of them in the ballroom—during the Dedication Night episode on Oct. 14. And with tears flowing in honor of their parents, partners and pals, DWTS surprised the cast during the elimination reveal.
"The first couple who is safe is..." host Alfonso Ribeiro began, adding, "All of you! No one is going home tonight."
As cohost Julianne Hough explained, "We couldn't send anyone home tonight on such a special night. All of the scores and all of the votes from tonight will carry over to next week."
And Elaine Hendrix was especially happy to be moving forward.
"It means everything to me," she shared. "This is a true second chance of my life and a dream come true and I'm beyond grateful."
In addition to Elaine, the celebrity contestants remaining on Dancing With the Stars are Jordan Chiles, Alix Earle, Robert Irwin, Whitney Leavitt, Danielle Fisher, Dylan Efron, Jen Affleck, Scott Hoying and Andy Richter.
Last week, Hilaria Baldwin emotionally reflected on her family's support for her dance journey after she and partner Gleb Savchenko were eliminated from the series.
"I said to my daughter, because I'm so open with my kids, 'What happens if I get voted off right away?'" the 41-year-old—who shares kids Carmen, 12, Rafael, 10 Leonardo, 9, Romeo, 7, Eduardo, 5, María Lucía, 4, and Ilaria, 3, with husband Alec Baldwin—told E! News after the episode taping, getting choked up. "She said, 'Mommy, at least you tried.'"
Hilaria continued, "And I hope they always know that: At least I tried."
Alec later paid tribute to his wife on social media. "I want to say I love you, Hilaria, and I'm proud of you," the actor said in an Oct. 9 Instagram. “It's been wonderful for the family to be able to support you as you support us every day. This has been such a large part of your life, and this is a dream come true for you."
The yoga instructor has since floated a theory about why she was voted off Dancing With the Stars.
"I did get bullied off the show," she said in an Oct. 12 Instagram Live, referring to the criticism she received online throughout her four weeks on DWTS. "I did, that’s for sure. That is for sure."
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Citing multiple sources, Variety reported in 2019 that Dancing With the Stars contestants make $125,000 for the rehearsal period and first two weeks of the show. If they progress beyond that point, the outlet continued, they earn more money each week. At the time, sources told the publication stars could earn a maximum of $295,000.
However, Bobby Bones said he made more than this when he won season 27 with Sharna Burgess in 2018.
"That show pays OK," the radio personality said on a Sept. 2025 episode of Jason Tartick's podcast Trading Secrets. "Like, first episode, no money. Second episode, $10,000. I think it's like, $10,000, $10,000, $20,000, $20,000. It ends up being $50,000 an episode if you last."
Also receiving a base salary of around $110,000, Bones continued, "I ended up making close to $400,000 from that show."ABC has not publicly confirmed any of these figures.
Similarly, little has been shared publicly about how much the pros get paid. But as with the contestants, it seems like the longer they're on the show, the more money they can make. But even if a pro is eliminated in the first round, they're not leaving the ballroom empty-handed.
"You're guaranteed until a certain amount of weeks," Jenna Johnson said on a June 2025 episode of Kelly Stafford and Hank Winchester's podcast The Morning After. "I think there's different contracts though. I can't speak for everybody."
Apparently not.
While Johnson—who won season 26 with Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon, as well as season 33 with The Bachelor's Joey Graziadei—says the pros don't get a larger paycheck if they take home what is now called the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, she noted there's still an incentive to make it to the finale (besides bragging rights, of course).
"If you make it all the way to the end, you're getting paid the whole season, which is amazing, and you get a bonus on top of that for making it to the finale," she explained on The Morning After. "If you win, it's not like you win a $1 million and split it with your partner. You're just getting a cute trophy together."
That doesn't appear to be the case.
On a 2022 episode of Trading Secrets, Lindsay Arnold recalled how her salary was cut "more than in half" when she was demoted from pro to troupe member.
The pros get little input when it comes to being matched with a celebrity.
"You get no say," Lindsay said on a May 2025 episode of Maggie Sellers' Hot Smart Rich podcast. "It's very much just, 'Here's your partner. Make it work.'"
In fact, Jenna said the pairing is often a secret until the last minute."They really want to keep it a secret until you meet them live," Jenna said on The Morning After. "They want that genuine reaction. So I think people always think we know who we have and we're keeping it a secret. Absolutely not. They do not tell us. They really don't even want us to know the cast. It gets leaked a lot, but they want it very hush-hush until you walk in and meet your partner."
As for what the Dancing With the Stars team looks for when making these matches?
"It's based on height, build and personality and compatibility," former showrunner Rob Wade told E! News in 2015. "We don't pair people who aren't going to get on. It's too intense. It's not like The Bachelor or something, we couldn't do that. That would just be miserable experience for the celebrity, for us and the viewer. You don't want to see two people who don't like each other and, quite frankly, we have made that mistake pairing people up who didn't get on so well."
Put simply, a lot.
"Every day we have four-hour rehearsals," Rylee Arnold, who was partnered with Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik on season 33, shared on a September 2024 episode of the Lightweights Podcast With Joe Vulpis. "It’s either 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m to 9:00 p.m."
But the work doesn't stop once the rehearsal wraps. Rylee noted she might then meet with producers or the creative team, work on choreography or study dance videos."Literally my whole life is devoted to it," she continued, "but it's my passion and it's what I love. So, it makes me so happy."Indeed, it's a no-days-off kind of gig."We have our show day on Tuesday and then it's Wednesday to Sunday, straight rehearsals," Rylee added. "And then Monday we have camera blocking and then Tuesday's show day again."
"Mostly yes," Emma Slater and Britt Stewart revealed in a September 2025 Instagram video, "though it's a collaboration with producers."
If you thought the quickstep was fast, just wait until you hear about the pace of the costume department.
"We meet with the set and lighting designers, dancers and talent and create a story [for each pair]," costume designer Daniela Gschwendtner told TV Insider back in 2017. "Then we sketch out ideas. We have five days, max, to make all the outfits. That’s half a day per costume, not including all the rhinestones. The fitting and trimming we do later. We have about 20 people in our department and then we have a separate tailor shop. It’s a big enterprise."
In fact, costume designer Steven Norman Lee said pairs usually try on their costumes for the first time just hours before showtime. And while the department "might use a pair of pants again for the boys," he continued, everything is generally made custom each week.
As Gschwendtner added, "We do reuse things for group numbers or promo shoots, but not for the competition. We don’t reuse things unless there’s a specific reason to do so. We try to keep everybody fresh and new in something different every week, so it stays interesting."
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